FAO helps flood affected farmers resume food production in Zambézia and Sofala provinces
11 000 farmers receive input supplies to improve food security
Mozambican woman farmer affected by recent floods (Photo: @ FAO/Marta Barroso)
06 May 2015, Namacurra, Mozambique - Farmers in Zambézia and Sofala provinces of Mozambique lost both crop and household property after floods hit the country in January this year. The loss of some work tools meant that it would take longer and require more resources for the affected farmers to get back to their land, but with the timely intervention by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) working with the Government of Mozambique and a non-governmental organization, KULIMA, a return to agriculture production was made seamless.
FAO, Government of Mozambique and KULIMA, are assisting about 11 000 flood-affected families from Zambézia and Sofala provinces, two of the hardest hit provinces by the January floods by giving agriculture inputs kits. The distribution of the kits with agricultural inputs - consisting of seeds and work tools - has already been concluded in Sofala (Caia and Chemba districts) and has begun in Zambézia.
The January 2015 floods were described by Betino José, Director of the District Services for Economic Activities in Namacurra, as "the worst in the history of the district, both in terms of losses to crops and of losses to both human and animal lives." Judite Moreira, one of the farmers who received the agriculture inputs kits at Mocua Resettlement Centre in the District of Namacurra, Zambézia Province said she only managed to save herself and her children when the warning that they should move to higher ground to avoid the impending danger reached them. Moreira, a farmer and mother of three said she lost "absolutely everything" because
of the floods.
It is a paradox that the two provinces were affected by floods after heavy rains pounded the central and northern parts of the country at a time when most countries in the Southern African region face grain deficit because of the intermittent rains that were received during the 2014 - 2015 agriculture season. Southern Africa's maize harvest is expected to shrink this year by some 26 percent compared with 2014's bumper crop, and it is feared that this could trigger food price increases and adversely affect recent food security gains.
The objective of FAO's assistance in Mozambique is to help the most vulnerable households resume their agricultural production. "Measured against the needs, which are obvious, this is a modest contribution," Castro Camarada, FAO Country Representative, said at the kits delivery in Mocua, "but it is significant for the revival of the production activities by the affected families."
More than 100 000ha of crops were damaged by the heavy rains as well as by the subsequent floods and pests, affecting over 110 000 families in the Central and Northern regions of the country. The food and seed stocks have been washed away, leaving those who subsist on agricultural production to rely on food aid. An assessment done in February after the floods showed that, despite the devastation caused by the floods, the farmers were willing to get back to their fields and resume agriculture production.
According to Alberto Chidiamassamba, coordinator of the recovery projects in both provinces, "FAO's assistance will help these smallholder farmers and their families get back to more food security."
Chidiamassamba and Camarada, managed to inspect flooded areas, damaged irrigation systems and aquaculture ponds as well as hold meetings with the provincial and district governments and the Food Security Cluster partners from civil society, other UN agencies and the Technical Secretariat for Food Security, during his trip.
Contact
Marta Barroso
Communication Officer
FAO Mozambique
EMail: [email protected]